1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to data processing system and in particular to a method and system for remote node debugging using an embedded node controller of a node with disk-less embedded node controllers.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a distributed computing network many nodes are linked together to provide a variety of services. If a node controller in the distributed network malfunctions, the malfunctioning node controller may not be accessible through an Ethernet port. Accordingly, tools available to a network operator to diagnose the cause of the node controller failure may not be useable, especially when there may be an Ethernet port failure. Diagnosing a malfunctioning node controller becomes more challenging for a disk-less embedded node controller.
One method of accessing a node controller to debug or diagnose node controller failures includes an Ethernet dongle. The Ethernet dongle is a hardware component configured to connect to a RS-232 port of a malfunctioning node controller. The Ethernet dongle is configured to allow data to be converted to Ethernet packets that can be accessed remotely. Another method for accessing a node controller includes use of an actual physical connection. A physical connection is created from a personal computer (PC) to the malfunctioning node controller. The PC is then capable of accessing the node controller to debug or diagnose the failure condition.
Both of the above methods require special hardware and hardware access to the malfunctioning node controller which can be costly as the number of nodes and node controllers increase.